".P.S. "the Conservative onslaught" - your correspondent makes them sound like the hordes of Attila."

Well, at least he got that right.

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The Canadian Union of Postal Workers was incredibly stupid here - or, more likely, merely demonstrating how far out of touch it is with reality.

Nobody has defined benefit pensions in the private sector anymore, or jobs-for-life, let alone jobs-for-life with early retirement rights. Only 11% of private sector jobs are unionized (as compared to over 60% in the public sector).

The private sector took a beating in the recession - over 100,000 jobs lost in the automotive sector in Ontario alone. Many bankruptcies. Unemployment is still up, and wages are still down.

In that context, there is no public sympathy or support for the public sector unions, least of all CUPW.

The article didn't note that the back-to-work legislation mandated a pay settlement lower than management's last offer.

Harsh?

Maybe, but the reality is that Harper would only have been even more popular if they had legislated that pay would be cut 1/2% per day the strike lasted. Now that really would have been aggressive!

This was a Ronald Reagan-and-the-air-traffic-controllers moment, served up on a silver platter by CUPW.

That CUPW does not understand, or care, that they gave a huge political gift to the government is an indication of how far out of touch they are with reality.

Didn't they learn anything from the Toronto garbage strike?
Were they paying no attention at all?

To Bill in Vancouver,
Why should anyone deliver mail to Ross River unless they pay for the increased cost of going to a remote area? There is no longer any need for people in populous areas to subsidize the hermits. If they want to be connected to the wider wolrd, they still can through the internet.

@ Damn Dirty Ape: I hate to break it to you - often whole communities go off to remote areas for a reason - they tend to be mining towns (Canada has a significant history related to mining). So those people who live in those remote mining towns provide the mining labour for the minerals that drive our economy. Living in our cities, we don't always see this - and hence we don't full appreciate the services of Ross River. Ross River is every bit as entitled to cheap mail as much as Toronto.

I agree with Bill in Vancouver but would add another item. Rural voters who would be negatively affected the most by a privatized post office are over-represented in the House of Commons. They are 20% of the population with 40% of the seats, and more than 40% of the Conservative caucus. Any sale would come with conditions to protect these voters, which would discourage buyers and keep the price down, hence no "windfall".

Your reporter fails to understand the issues regarding Canada's postal strike. Many studies have indicated that Canada's public employees are significantly overpaid for similar work in the private sector, estimates range as high as 40% more. Prime Minister Harper has the support of the majority of people on this issue. The only thing aggressive about Harper's stance his in the mind of your reporter.You should also note that it was the union leader who instructed his minion Jack Layton, leader of her majesty's loyal Opposition to stand down and Mr. Layton graciously obliged, proving once again that the NDP is a wholly-owned subsidiary of Canada's labour movement.

-kxbxo is pretty much right on here. The post office kinda reminds me of Air Canada. They took their monopoly and turned it into customer hatred of their poor service. Now AC is trying to earn back customers as a private sector entity. Unfortunately, there really are no second chances in the private sector. The competitors of the Post Office are so far out in front that it not too hard to imagine the world without a government run snail mail.

The truly interesting thing is the newly evolving political dynamic as the NDP attempts to hold on to the union vote while portraying itself as " not just a Quebec party" and " not just union lackeys". They are going to get slaughtered at this. It is laughable and nobody is laughing harder than Stephen Harper. He will have Liberal assistance in discrediting the NDP for the next 2 elections. Perhaps it all makes sense this way. The NDP is only popular in Quebec which is the only place that still believes in the Socialist miracle ( sorry, I forgot about Venezuela and Zimbabwe), which they enjoy thanks to generous donations from The Rest of Canada.

I fully agree that these guys have the right to strike or to be locked out. I am against any legislation which forces them back to work.

To say that the lock out is not affecting people in the Internet age is completely misguided. No client of mine can e-mail me a cheque. I have to rely on Post Canada until someone invents something with more accountability than direct deposit.

Of course, I can simply consult my bills on-line. I bill my clients on-line and I receive my bills on-line. There is no novelty there. Those who receive their hydro bill in the mailbox may simply convert to the inbox.

So this lock out has many positive externalities. Canadian Luddites are learning to adapt to on-line solutions. We are moving right on the learning curve. So keep up the good work, union guys! You're igniting the entrepreneurial flame in all of us. I hope your conditions stay the same once you're sold to Pony Express Inc.

Canada Post owns and operates a fairly widely used electronic billing system that integrates with bank bill payment systems, unlike e-mail-based notifications. The strike and lockout kept this system from operating, which resulted in many undelivered bill notifications and pay stubs.

The Economist submission deadline for stories must be early in the week. This makes the economist more of a history magazine than a news magazine. I would have thought that the failure of the merger between the London and Toronto stock exchanges would be the story from Canada. It is certainly more newsworthy than a labour dispute ended by back to work legislation that barely interests Canadians never mind readers outside our borders.

P.S. "the Conservative onslaught" - your correspondent makes them sound like the hordes of Attila.

The true reality of the Canada post story is that Canada Post is becoming too expensive and they have run out of ideas on how to cut costs.

Mail postage has been rising well above the inflation rate and although this article talks about simple letters, Canada Post also delivers parcels that are now getting too expensive. The Fedex/UPS/DHL cartel needs to be challenged in order to keep mail charges down. If Canada Post paid its employees the same as Fedex/UPS/DHL and passed on the lower charges to the public we would have a super mail system that would also have many economic benefits.

On the cost side, Canada Post has tried so many cost cutting ideas that it has now become irritating. The average "Canada Post depo" is actually located in a store such as Shoppersdrugmart staffed by the drugstore and not Canada post staff. Your have no choice but to walk through the isles to make your way to the back of the store (diagonally in the opposite corner to the store entrance). Where Canada Post does have its own outlet, it resembles a staples or stationary store selling all kinds of stuff (to make up revenue) and it is normally grossly understaffed (which is okay), but they now offer a whole new bang of services that has each client spend a good 15 to 20 minutes with the Canada Post staff filling out some type of form while a huge lineup generates. We can safely put aside over 1 hour to get get service at a Canada Post outlet (there are a few exceptions).

So as Canadians we have gotten used to trekking through the perfume section of a Shoppersdrugmart to the back end of the store or waiting unreasonably long time to get service. But, dealing with above inflation rates on Canada post services too? Now that's just asking too much.

Now the unionised Canada Post staff may have to realise that there is a direct link between their salaries and postal service rate hikes that have the majority of Canadians miffed.

Canada Post is a bungling incompetent bureaucratic mess. Postage is still 3 cents for a first class letter; the other 60 cents is for storage. The employees should never been given the right to strike in the first place. Their wages and benefits are now double "fair market value". The only way the government could realize "value" in any sale is to sell assets WITHOUT THE UNION EMPLOYEES. A new owner could hire replacements (probably 25% less employees) at less than 50% of the costs. Service must be on a "postage stamp" basis of same costs throughout the country. Those posters saying let Ross River pay for the extra costs may think again if farmers say let those city bastards pay more for food, and miners and oil workers and lumber workers jump om board. Not many farms, oil wells, gas wells, tree farms, mines in Toronto or haven't you jerks noticed?

To call Canada Post profitable is to ignore their significant accumulated pension liability. And, while industry has no compunction about underfunding pensions (as they're an inconvenience easy enough to shed in a bankruptcy court), a public enterprise such as this can't wriggle out of such a situation.